Horror has a close generic relationship with comedy, as both genres attempt to elicit bodily reactions, from instinctual gasps and reflexive chuckles to involuntary shutting of eyes and uncontrollable laughter. Horror comedy movies that are hilarious and terrifying operate by leaning into the similarities of the two body-genres. Often, the source of comedy in such instances is the absurdity of the human body and its various responses to extreme stimuli. So, the very act that would horrify a viewer in a somber tone becomes comical in a comedy.

Because of this possibility of a horror scene evolving into comedy, many horror movies have the potential to be unintentionally funny. Some of the most unintentionally hilarious movie characters of all time are from horror movies because intense performances, as necessary in horror films, often lead to unintentional comedy. For instance, memes that become bigger than the movies they’re from prove that committed acting often paves the way for hilarity with severe expressions and excessive pᴀssion from the concerned actor.

10

Esther Is A Grown Woman

Orphan (2009)

Mistaken idenтιтy is often a common plot twist in horror movies to explain disturbing events and surprise the audience with a plot twist. However, this can become a source of unintentional hilarity if it’s too far-fetched. In the case of Jaume Collet-Serra’s Orphan, this reveal changes everything about the devilish protagonist but also explains everything that’s happened in the movie up to that point. While it’s not necessarily funny per se, the reveal that the nine-year-old girl in Orphan is a 33-year-old woman with hypopituitarism is such a blindsiding reveal that it can invite a chuckle.

While the real-life crime and true story behind Orphan complicates the unintentional comedy one might find in the revelation, the laugh isn’t aimed at the character, it’s just a consequence of the reveal being both too perfect for the story and absolutely unexpected. The next scene after the reveal, where the woman takes off her makeup that made her look like a child, is truly terrifying as the facade fades away and reveals a murderous person. But the fact that she’s not a child catches viewers so unawares, that it’s unintentionally funny.

9

Wendy Swinging the Bat

The Shining (1980)

Stanley Kubrick is known for his meticulous filmmaking and all his movies are characterized by intensely pᴀssionate performances from the cast. He’s famous for having been a harsh taskmaster who’d demand the absolute best from his crew members, but that has backfired in the most famous instance. The highest number of takes for a single sH๏τ in the history of cinema is the sH๏τ of the late Shelley Duvall swinging her bat as she backs away from Jack Nicholson up the stairs. She’s supposed to look terrified, but her erratic body language makes her look unintentionally comical.

However, the backstory to that sH๏τ is tragic. Kubrick had subjected Duvall to extreme emotional manipulation, separating her from the cast members, forcing her to stay alone between takes, and being unfairly harsh to her. His intention was to draw out the panicked and traumatized look that her character Wendy should have during the movie, but this was an inhumane step to take as a director. The most tragic part is that the trauma ruined Duvall’s mental stability and her career because she wasn’t taken seriously due to the seemingly comical performance.

8

Paul Eats His Own Brain

Hannibal (2001)

Sometimes, gruesome and morbid scenes can become unintentionally funny just because of their shocking nature. The sight might be disgusting, and the characters might be experiencing severe trauma, but the bizarre nature of the extremity can evoke unintended laughter. Sir Anthony Hopkins’ Dr. Hannibal Lecter, introduced in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), is one of the movie characters that helped reshape genre expectations, by being an eloquent and patient serial killer.

However, as much as his presence and characterization subverted prevalent tropes, the next film went in the opposite direction. Dr. Lecter still has his uncanny screen presence thanks to Sir Hopkins’ remarkable performance, but his cannibalism has become gimmicky in Hannibal (2001). The most infamous instance of this is when he feeds the detective Clarice Starling her partner’s brain, and, in a shocking turn of events, makes her partner eat parts of his own brain. This is meant to cement his sinister Dr. Lecter’s sinister nature, but the concept is so outlandish, that it’s hard to take it seriously.

7

Ben Tramer Gets Blown Up

Halloween II (1981)

The Halloween franchise is known for its suspenseful build-ups to moments of violence, where all pent-up anxiety is released in the form of an altercation. In Halloween II, Dr. Loomis, Michael Myers’ doctor, is helping the police hunt down the crazed killer. This leads to multiple set pieces where the pattern of patiently building up suspense to a misdirection or an encounter is repeated.

Most of those instances are intense and characterized by severe violence, but one such instance, while still tragic and extreme, is unintentionally hilarious. An innocent kid, Ben Tramer, is dressed up as Michael Myers for Halloween, but Dr. Loomis becomes convinced that he’s the actual Michael. When Loomis and a cop pursue him, he tries to cross the road, but a cop car runs into him and hits the car behind them, causing an exorbitantly large explosion that burns and kills Tramer. The absurd scale of the explosion makes this tragic moment hilarious.

6

Fᴀssbach Shoots Himself

World War Z (2013)

Zombie movies are often unintentionally funny due to the bizarre absurdity of zombie bodies and their movements. As Edgar Wright’s Shaun of the ᴅᴇᴀᴅ proved, zombie movies can be hilarious by leaning into the awkwardness of the body. However, depending on the tone of the zombie film, even unintentional comedy becomes impossible, like in Train to Busan, one of the best horror movies released in the past 10 years.

World War Z is different in tone from Train to Busan, but it’s serious in its handling of the subject. The action-heavy zombie flick is a dumb entertainer in many ways, but some of the grave moments are tragic, or at least meant to. Virologist Andrew Fᴀssbach, who was supposed to help figure out a way to stop the zombie apocalypse, falls on a gun while running from zombies and shoots himself in the face. His awkwardness and lack of relevance to the plot make this moment unintentionally funny.

5

Dave Drowns In Boiling H๏τ Dog Water

My Bloody Valentine (1981)

While self-aware meta-writing wasn’t as mainstream in slashers until the release of Scream in the late ’90s, slashers from before then often have a sense of humor about them. The overboard killings of many slasher villains are often parodied for laughs, but there’s nothing intentionally comical about My Bloody Valentine. Featuring some of the most gruesome deaths in 1980s horror movie history, it’s an intense slasher with innovative and gory kills that pushed the limits of slasher deaths.

From a nail gun to a pick axe, the killer in My Bloody Valentine is inventive with his murder weapons, even using a drier for a murder. But, his most unique kill is unfortunately hilarious despite being quite innovative. When Dave is looking at a boiling pot full of H๏τ dogs, the killer approaches him from behind and submerges his head in the water. While his struggle to breathe is shown in harrowing detail, Dave’s face floating among H๏τ dogs is such an inherently funny sight, that it’s hard not to laugh at that.

4

Annie Floats Up

Hereditary (2018)

One of the scariest supernatural horror movies of all time, Ari Aster’s Hereditary is hardly funny. It is a terrifying exploration of folklore and grief from start to finish, which is relentless with its horror. There are sequences that could scar viewers for life, from an accidental decapitation of a child by a road sign to the live burning of a man. At the heart of the film’s horror is a cult that worships the evil spirit haunting the central family, and this spirit’s activities leads to bizarre and terrifying moments.

One such moment is when the mother is perched up against the wall behind the son, who doesn’t notice her until it’s too late and needs to jump out of a window to escape from her possessed body. The ultimate conclusion of this horrifying scene is, unfortunately, rather funny because of the appearance. The mother’s decapitated body floats into the tree house at the end of the movie, and the sight of a headless specter swaying like that on its way up is bound to elicit laughter despite the intense atmosphere in the film.

3

John Says “Piranha”

Saw VI (2009)

The Saw franchise has a morbid sense of humor about it. There is something sadistically comical about despicable people suddenly becoming holier-than-thou when faced with certain death in a Jigsaw trap. Not all of Jigsaw’s victims deserve their fates, but some of them bring unintentional comedy to the movies with their absurd and awkward reactions to being trapped by the тιтular character.

While the first Saw is a crime movie where the villain wins in the end, the extreme gore in later installments moved the franchise entirely into horror territory. Jigsaw keeps winning in them, even after his death, but the most unintentionally comical moment in the entire franchise is from him, during an unexpectedly human moment. While arguing about the corrupt immorality of insurance agents, Jigsaw notices a piranha tank and says “Piranha!” in almost the same breath as his previous line. Tobin Bell’s delivery of the line makes the moment particularly funny.

2

Elliot Says “What? No!”

The Happening (2008)

One of the most unintentionally funny characters in movie history appears in one of M. Night Shyamalan’s worst movies, The Happening (2008). It broke Shyamalan’s streak of critically acclaimed movies, with its bizarre plot and poorly written screenplay. Part of what makes it a bad movie is Mark Wahlberg’s performance as the protagonist, Elliot Moore, who’s impossible to take seriously due to Wahlberg’s stiff performance.

The poor direction that led Wahlberg to make the acting choices he did make the movie seem like a parody of itself at times, and as such, the whole movie is an example of unintentional comedy. However, there is a stand-out moment that became a sensation when the movie was released. When Elliot is confronted by a woman who believes he’s plotting her murder, he reᴀssures her simply by saying, “What? No!” It’s the least convincing response anyone could ever give to such an accusation, and the woman’s nonchalance as she turns around before his response makes this even funnier.

1

Gabriel Throws a Chair

Malignant (2021)

While it’s not as perfect as his directorial debut Saw, James Wan’s Malignant is a fun supernatural horror movie with a convoluted plot twist at its heart. However, in a bad way, Malignant is almost a comedy, because of the bizarre character choices and choreography that introduce moments of unintentional comedy throughout. From Annabelle Wallis’ wig to the inexplicable electricity mechanics, many of its flaws are enjoyable because of how hilarious they make the movie.

The funniest moment, however, is supposed to be absolutely terrifying. When a couple of people decide to leave Gabriel alone after realizing his abilities and being afraid of what he might do to them, they’re attacked by Gabriel nonetheless. He doesn’t take the regular supernatural horror villain route of using scary abilities to attack them, though. He hilariously spins around with a chair behind him, and throws it across the room, hitting both people. It’s an iconic scene because it wasn’t supposed to be funny, but it looks absolutely comical.